Down the stairs from the bedroom walked Mrs. Carney in her nightgown, heading to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Before she reached the machine, she spotted four kickers in the house, sitting on a couch, waiting for her husband to open up the couple’s garage.

“At that point,” John Carney said, “it was time to move the guys out of the house and find a new location.”

In retirement, the 23-year NFL veteran has found a niche, transitioning from Chargers great to San Diego businessman and inventor. His mentorship and resources attract, near and far, some of the most accomplished and promising kickers to his private gym. They’ll kick at parks as well and hit the water to paddleboard.

Yes, Carney, 48, has no trouble staying busy.

This Friday, he and Pro Bowl Giants punter Steve Weatherford will co-host Dinner With the Pros, a seventh-annual event in which celebrities serve guests dinner. The night at La Costa Resort & Spa raises money for Southern California faith-based organizations.

On Sundays, he runs a two-hour Carney Clinic for local experienced high school kickers and punters.

On most days, he updates his website, carneycoaching.com, and works with a who’s-who list of NFL clientele, be it ones with jobs or those preparing to earn them. Former Chargers kicker Nate Kaeding, Giants kicker Josh Brown, Panthers kicker Graham Gano and ex-San Diego State punter Brian Stahovich are among those to have trained with Carney.

Since the garage days, things have evolved.

Chargers kicker Nick Novak remembers the 2011 lockout, sprinting on a road by orange trees. He says they’d run cross-country through people’s backyards to a steep hill he estimates at 100 yards in length and anywhere from 45 to 60 degrees in slope.

The group of regulars included Novak, Weatherford, Carney and Jets kicker Nick Folk, but as many as a dozen trained at the house at once.

“It was very Rocky-esque, like Rocky IV in Russia,” Novak said. “It’s definitely smaller than what he’s got now. We’d utilize the driveway. We’d do lunges and stuff like that. We made do.”

The day the Chargers released Kaeding last October, the Pro Bowler called Carney.

Quickly, they began a training regimen at his new 2,400 square-foot gym, the Carney Training Facility (CTF).

Located in Carlsbad, it includes much of the old garage equipment but with new machines and extra workout stations. Carney’s music playlist blasts from a stereo, from Rolling Stones to Queen to the fight song of Notre Dame, his alma mater.

On one wall, there are photographs of NFL kickers and punters.

On the opposite wall, quotes are written in chalk against a black background. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. The more we prepare during peace, the less we bleed in battle. Road block, hurdle or steppingstone? You decide.

Stahovich trained for the 2012 NFL Combine with Carney.

Preparing with him, he said, is more than just about the workout equipment.